Rational:
The major goal of reading is comprehension. To comprehend meanings of written
text, there are certain techniques that students can use in order to have
better understanding of what they are reading. One of the best techniques
that a student can use is summarizing. It is important for children to
be able to locate the most important information in a text.

Materials:
A copy of Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan,
(Harper Trophy, 1987) for each student, paper and pencils

Procedures:1.
First, the teacher will discuss with the students the importance of understanding
what they are reading. In order to understand what you read, we are going
to use a strategy called summarization which helps us pick out the important
parts of the text.2.
The teacher will introduce the book to the students. (Book talk- The children’s
mother died a day before one of the children Caleb is born, Papa used to
sing all the time to the children but now that momma is gone he doesn’t
anymore, so he decides to put an ad in the paper for a wife, and he receives
a letter from Sarah Wheaton from Maine. So the children and papa write
back wanting to know if she sang. She decides to come for a month and check
it out. She describes herself to papa and she significantly tells him “I
am plain and tall” Will Sarah be nice to them? Will she stay? Let’s read
and find out.)Ê After the book talk,
the children will read the first few pages. When they have finished, there
will be a question and answer period on what they have just read. Questions
can be who? What? When? Where? Why?Questions.
The teacher also will ask them some questions at this time in order to
help them focus.3.
The teacher will reread the passages that were assigned to the students.
The teacher will point out the most important parts and those that are
not. The teacher will model to the students how to ask the five "W" questions
in order to find out what is important. "Ask yourselves what the story
is about, who the story is about, and find out where the story takes place.
Questions such as What does Sarah look
like? Is she really tall or is she medium size? Where is Sarah from? What
do you think they are going to think about this young woman that has come
all the way from Maine to visit them for a month? The teacher will demonstrate
by asking these types of questions.4.
Next, the children will label their papers with the 5 "W" questions. I
will have the students finish reading the chapter. The students should
fill in the paper with no problem after reading the text.5.
Assessment: Teacher will collect all of the student's papers to make sure
they all know how to summarize correctly. The teacher will have a checklist
to see that the children have found the important points.Ê